Friday, June 27, 2008

Watch the Upscale Business Magazines

How do you know if you're reading an upscale men's business magazine? By the types of ads the magazine carries.

No, not ads for golf clubs, single-malt scotch or investment houses. Those are meaningless. Pennysavers have those ads.

Check out the watch ads. Lots and lots of high-end watches with tons of features most people have never heard of. And there's never a price or MSRP for the watch. (Here's my essential checklist for buying a watch: 1. Does it tell the time? 2. Do I need a new watch.)

If there are two watch ads or less -- think an Airline publication -- it's not really an upscale magazine.

But that's only part of the equation to determine if the magazine is truly upscale.

The other part are ads for executive jets.

Now do the math: more than three watch ads but none for jet ownership -- not even fractional jet ownership -- it's not really an upscale magazine. Let's call it a faux-scale magazine.

The corollary to that equation never occurs.

You never see a magazine with several ads for even fractional jet ownership without several ads for high-end watches.

There's just something about watches and planes.

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